Premier League betting preview: Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur

Summer Summary

There’s been the usual mix of transfer comings, goings and wild speculating, but chief amongst the off-season developments is the retirement of Ledley King.The club captain’s succumbing to injury is sad, but predictable. It’s remarkable he’s been able to keep going at such a high level considering his knees are about as healthy as an obsession with Kerry Katona. After a few weeks of hammering out the contract details, Andre Villas-Boas finally took charge and almost immediately started moulding the squad into his vision. That vision apparently involves Jan Vertonghen and Gylfi Sigurdsson and they are welcome additions to the squad.

Something to be positive about

Spurs have got their hands on one of the best young managers in Europe. Obviously Chelsea thought they had the same thing and that didn’t work out, but you would think he’ll get more time and less abuse from John Terry at White Hart Lane. Under Villas-Boas, Spurs will probably be a little less gung-ho than they were under Harry Redknapp and although the entertainment factor at White Hart Lane may go down, the points haul could well go up.

Something to be a bit worried about

Losing Luka Modricwould be a big blow if it actually happens. There aren’t many players of his class in world football and those that there are probably don’t want to play for Tottenham. There’s also a concern that what happened to Andre Villas-Boas at Chelsea wasn’t the result of a lack of support from players and had more to do with him being a bit crap.

An optimistic season bet

Winning the league in your first season at a club is a huge ask, but we all remember a certain other fashionably jacketed, Portuguese hot young coaching talent rocking up to London and achieving it, so why not? Well, the answer is Villas-Boas doesn’t have the GDP of a small pacific nation to spend on transfers, so that’s why. For the moment, Tottenham to be the Top London Club at 9/2 has the right balance of optimism and realism.

A more realistic season bet

Well maybe this season finishing in the Champions League places would actually result in the club getting a place in the Champions League. Spurs are 7/4 for a Top 4 Finish and maybe this time it’ll land them a ticket to Europe’s premier cash cow.